There is another story in Le Journal with the headline "Des regrets éternels" (Eternal Regret) for Chalon, which describes how Mensah-Bonsu, who will play for Great Britain at the London Games, set the tone for a Besiktas win.

The French sports daily L'Equipe writes that "Chalon played intermittently" while "Besiktas played with consistency".

French basketball fans know Mensah-Bonsu well because he was on the books of ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne in the 2010-11 campaign before a shoulder injury cut short his season.

L'Equipe adds that "the Turks, led by a great Pops Mensah-Bonsu ... started out quickly at 15-3 and the lead grew to 32-15 after a three-pointer by Marcelus Kemp" early in the second quarter.

The paper also recalls that Chalon lost its previous opportunity to win a European trophy when falling to Maroussi in the 2001 Saporta Cup Final, 74-72, in Warsaw.

Remarkably, Bulgaria international Vassil Evtimov - the older brother of current Chalon sharpshooter Ilian - had 18 rebounds to go with his seven points for Maroussi against Chalon.

Le Journal also recalled that Saporta Cup defeat.

The paper wrote: "Chalon heroes lost their second European final in their history. Cruel."

In Spain, the national news agency EFE writes about Besiktas being the champions of the EuroChallenge after beating Chalon.

EFE covered the Spanish team that played in this season's EuroChallenge, Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada - the only side that beat Besiktas during the EuroChallenge season.

The French website, Basketnews.net, writes that "Elan stumbled at the last step" against a Besiktas that showed more "consistency" and "strength".

The first two sentences of the game report say: "Chalon has struggled. To the end."

The official Besiktas website proudly proclaims on its homepage: "EuroChallenge 2011-12 Champions".

It also runs a headline that says, "Men's Basketball wins EuroChallenge, makes history".

The European trophy in basketball is indeed the first in the history of Besiktas.

The website reflects on the Besiktas season in Europe with the headline "Championship Journey", a story that begins with the failed attempt to qualify for the Eurocup.

But 16 games and 14 victories later in the EuroChallenge, Besiktas are the champions.